Automatic type-writer actuator.



E. s. JOHNSON & b. L. RHEA. AUTOMATIC TYPE WINTER ACTUATOR APPLICATIONFILES AUG. 5- NHL 1,281,252. Patented Oct. 8,1918

q suns-swan 1.

E. S. JOHNSON & J. L. RHEA. AUTOMATIC TYPE WRITER ACTUATOR.

APPLICATION FILED AUGJ. 19H.

Patented Oct. 8, 1918.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2- E. s. souusow M. L. RHEA. AUTOMAHGIYPE WRITERACTUATOR.

. wrucnmu FILED AUGJ. \911.

Patented Oct 8,1918.

3 SHEETS' SHEET 3.

"" ment,on a continuous perforated sheet, and mechanism adapted toquickly shift theof being reduced .UNITEDVYSTATES PATEnToFFIcn Earner s.ionnson, orwnns'rna CITY, Aim JOSEPH L. nuns, or sermon; n'nurrs,

Specification of Letters Patent.

.Bnbstitutefor application Seria -No. 54,8?9, flled-0otober 7, 1916.This eppllcatfon fled August 1, 1817. i Serial 895184987. a

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known-thatwe, Earner S. J OHNSUN andJosicrii L. RHEA, citizens ofthe United States, residing at Webster Cit in the county of Hamilton,State of owa, and

Council Bluffs, in the county er Pottawat tamie and State of Iowa,respectively, have invented certain new and-useful Improvements inAutomatic Type-Writer Actuators; and Wade hereby declare the followingto "be a full, c1ear, and exact description of the invention, such aswill enable others skilled in the artto which it appertains to make anduse the same I This invention relates to typewriters adapt ed formechanical operation for theproduction of duplicate matter such as forlnlettexts and thelike, through the medium of a perforated sheet andcorrelating mechanism..

cooperating with the keys of a typewriter.

The object of this invention is-to provide means whereb the typewritermay thus be operated niecianicall'y and automatically, and may bequickly shifted from one. set form .to another, as the same may be arcntconstituted the machine is adapted to special and limited,correspondence, in which a form letter as a whole is duplicated, themachine beingset to the beginning of such form letter for each automaticoperation. This invention contemplates the arrangement of thematter tobe typewritten in a series of form-words, sentences, paragraphs, orother divisional parts ,ofa letter or 'docusheet'forward or back to anypredetermined sub ect matter. Inasmuch as the great mass of commercialcorrespondence is susceptible a limited number of set expressions, in ava-' ried and changing ord'er,,-it thus becomes.

possible to produce such letters for most purposes, withoutslavish-duplication, and at thesame time very rapidly,

merely selecting the operation, the operator the matter, by a momentaryoperation, for machine to automatically produce.

This application is ar-substitute-iw a prior one, No .a54,629,- filed.OctoberQ'i'plQlS, e subsequently abandoned. 1 i Intheaccompanyingdrawings,i

' ed for visible writingia T ranged on a continuous sheet. 7 As atprestonal rather large, but still and by purely mechanical means asregards the writing from.

they, are provided with dependingl I crossshaft 17 connecting o M anelectric motor 18 by pul eys19 and 20 a a belt 21. Aslow-rotation -imtmi part of this specificatipn, Figure ,1 is a which thisinvention-relatesas toyafford a clear idea ofits constructionand-operation.

Fig. 2' is a rear view of such automatic mechanism, together with theselecting mans on. a, 1918.

mechanism forming the subject matter-of this invention. Fig. 3 is a sideview, mainly external, illustrating said selective mechanism. Fig. 4- isa fragmentary view perspective illustrating thestarti'ng trip mechanism.Fig.5- illustrates a simple clutch and its releasing lever, whereby anelectric motor is clutched into engagement with-the writing a mechanism,and disengaged .there- Referring to Fi .1, the nurner'al- 1 ssnotesthemain frame of a typewriter adapt-r t pe-bar 2, key-lever 3, andconnection 4 for t e actuation; of the type-bar in'writing. The otherparts of the typewriter itself are notnecessary to'a properunderstanding-of this invention. r

The mechanism for operating the type,- writer automaticall 'is connectedwith a sub-frame 5 on w ich the typewriter is.

mounted. Directly below the key-levers 3 1s has the usual is mounted, ona QI'OSS'IOd 6, a series of levers 7, which, for convenience, may becalled master-levers. These connect at their front ends withthe'key-levers by slip-links- 8, which permit independent depression ofAt the cross-rod'their pivoti the key-levers. holes 9 are slotted, so asto permit a little longitudinal "movement. At the rea'rQend which in'theneutral position ri e onthe surface of the paper-sheet 11 trained over,a as flutedrollerlll .When ahole in the sheet passes. under-any grooveof the r0 vibrating bar 15. After asin an eccentric- '16. on a orator-isactuated by ratively with pins 1.0,

in, the pin is forced into a or bya spring -13, and is y carried forwardby the revolution of the roller far enough to .bring'the In 14 ofthatmo, 0 le blow of the vibrator the master-lever 7 es back to normalposition, having actuated a key-lever to: make a single type impression.

to the fluted roller, which carries the p erforated paper sheet, held toexact reg ster by sprockets 22 and marginal perforations 23, by aworm-gear 24, worm 25, shaft 26 and bevel gearing 27. The drive of theroller may be connected and disconnected by a clutch 28. Though notimportant, to this invention, it may be added that one of themaster-levers is connected operatively with the motor switch, so as tostop the motor automatically by means of a predetermined stop-hole inthe perforated sheet. It is to be understood that in the organizedmachine .the master levers are arranged in a closely associated series,only a few of them being shown in Fig. 2, the better to show mechanismwhich would be hidden by them.

Referring now to the other figures of the drawing, 2, 3, 4 and 5, theselective mechanism will be described.

In order that the perforated sheet may be moved back and forth to anydesired position, the fluted roller must be unclutched from the drivingmechanism, and the gang of master levers'must be raised out of contactwith the paper. It is also essential to 'the practical use of themachine that in shifting from one subject matter to another theperforated sheet move rapidly, whereas its normal movement in writing isrelatively slow. There must also be some means for easily determiningthe stopping and starting points, as the sheet is shifted, the formerpreferably automatic while the latter is the work of the operator. Thesemain features, together with others, are fully set forth in thedescription following.

A simple high-speed drive for the paper roller consists of spiral gears29 and 30, the latter attached to a shaft 31 mounted in bearings 32.Splined to this shaft is a'pair of connected friction disks33straddling'a friction-wheel 34 attached to the end of the shaft 17. Thedisks may be shifted to the neutral position shown, or into alternateposition, by a double bell-crank lever pivoted Y on a stud 36. Theoppositely disposed arms 37 and 38 ofthis lever connectby links 39 withthe respectivefinger or key-levers 40 and 41, fulcrumed at 42 on thetable-top 43. It is evident that the depression on one or the other ofthe levers will causethe roller to move in one direction, and the samemovement of the companion key-lever will reverse such movement. It i'first necessary, however, to unclutch the s ow driver, and this is doneby the depression of either lever, through the medium of aconnecting-rod 44.

bell-crank 45, connecting rod- 46 and bell crank 47 acting on thetransverse shift-rod 48 connecting with the fork 49, The clutch enga esautomatically by means of a spring 50. 1 t is also. necessary to releasethemaster if liversflfrom contact with the paper roll, so

that the paper may be run freely in either direction. This isaccomplished by the deression of either key-lever acting through a ail51 having a roller 52 resting on all of said master levers, as shown inFigs. 2 and 3. Ass-inningthe motor to be running in the directionindicated by the arrow in Fig. 3, it will be evident that when the leftkeylevcr (the one shown in said figure) is depressed the master leversare all disengaged, the slow motion clutch is released, and thehigh-speed drive for the roll is engaged, causing the paper to advance,the fluted roll moving in the same direction as the motor. Depressingthe right hand key reverses the IllOVClTlGfltof the paper. As onekey-lever is depressed the other rises, as shown in Fig. 4. To allow forthis movement the connecting rod 44 is slotted or forked, as shown atThe friction drive may be made elastic by allowing motion of the arms 37and 38 independently of the fork 35, and connecting them by springs 54.

()f many devices that would serve to indi cate starting and stoppingpositions of the paper, that herein illustrated is regarded one of thesimplest and best. It comprises. a disk or dial 55 provided with movableindi cators 56 adjustable to any desired predetermined point on theEli-31x In the-case of a manually operated machine these indicatorswould come, in the revolution of the dial, to a certain point, indicatedin any suitable way, when the operator would start the automatic writingmechanism. It is desir able, however, that the starting of the machineto write be automatic, asv well as the writing, and the mechanism isshown as adapted for that purpo the desired slow revolution of the dialbeing effected by a worm 57 on the shaft 31 engaging a wormgear :18 onthe vertical shaft 59 carrying the (al. A crank-wheel 60 is provided forh..nd operation. In Fig. 4. is best shown a simple type of indicatoradapted to actuate trip mechanism. This comprises a clamp 61 attachableto any point along the flanged edge of the dial, as by a thumb-screw 62.Between upstanding lugs 63 is pivoted an angled finger 64 having acentral shoulder 65 hearing on a spring 66, which serves to hold it whentilted to either ofits positions. In Fig. 4 it is shown in o erativeposition, while the one at the left in Fig. 3 is in the idle position.In the path of this trip-finger when in operative position is mounted atrip lever 67. This is in the .form of a stirrup, with a tail 68 toengage the finger a little while the latter is movin past it. Thestirrup is pivoted to a suitable supporting post 69, and its arms engageu standing pivoted detents 70 which alternate v serve as latches to holdone or the other of the key lcvers in depressed position. A spring 71holds j in I an

he actior of tlic machine will now he evidiamt. The in ator beingj'first set in a position. onythe t1 coinciding with the commencement ofsoy desired sentence, the op tillll has only to depress the-' properkeyd mechanism is brought into in: n, mg the paper rapidly forward orheck, Mid coincidentally turning the dial. When this It ice thepredetermined poon the dot nil :r disengages the high-speed and permitsthe automatic enoi? the clutch "for slow speed, and atijn of i ull mug.po it. "n. '3 Writing thenp1 cally until stopped, either hy ha (1, or.by suitable sto) mechanism, the l i he" of course preicrahle.

s of stomping the writing operat sengcgement'of the pulley ill.) fromits slur-tit. This may he done by n clutiiih 7'3, of well-knowirtype,which am an, 7411' and. 3th 76 with, an. arm.

leases but tl' 77 of the same lever that relutch and the master levers,mg oi. a he lever serves to tch While-it disengages the is igage thisclutch the lever 74 "ct-ted. link 78 with one of 79. This coiiperuteswith 0 in the perforated sheet. at the cam. of the subject matter, asindicated in his." Wlu therefore, the sheet adiii-the Writing operation,for enough inesterdever to engage this stop-hole,

the clutch 7 3 is thrown out (if-engagements and the machine stopsautomatically.

The selective mechanism may also be started, operated and stopped byhand, if do sired. A cam-faced pnsh-button serves to disengage themaster-levers. and the slowspeed. clutch, but not'engage the frictiondrive for 1" h speed. The form-sheet may then'he adi need or retractedby the hand-wheel 60. y In practice ,it is probable that a perforat dpay or sheet represents the sim Jlest and itory type of writingori'nmeng thereby v the pattern or sclnnne which corresponds to the matter asW['ittfll1, and which cooperates with the typewriter, through suitable:mwhenisin, to produce such, written. matter. We are aware, however,that other means than a perforated ,nce or reeede the paper), when ii istripped, and the release tonintically,but is released by a The hitter isshown pivoted on It connects by a slotted. link claim;

sheet are available; and theinvention is not limited to the useof such'perforated sheet, except the same, may be specifically claimed. Aprincipalv feature; ofthe invem .tion. being means to facilitatefltheshifting -f1011[l.0116 writ ng form to another, it Wlll be ierein shown,one being, the group of perfo rationsiarranged ahove the upper 80in Fig.

c. and the other the above the lower it 80. v y It will be evident from,the foregoinggthat the element herein designated as the writing formcontrols the action-of the typewriter, through the medium ofintermediate mechanism coiperating withthe typewriter keys, the mainpurpose of this invention being to facilitate the shifting of suchwriting forms into and out of action: For the "sake of brevity in theclaims, and to avoid. the confusion arising from the use of the Wordoperator, the term actuator will beused to designate the element orsetOf' IBlQIIIQIItS, through which the subject matter of the writingdformor scheme is. mechanically transmitted to the keys of the typewriter.

Having thus described our invention, We

group-below it, and

glikIn an automatic typewriter actuator having WlltlIlg-fOI'IK'lSarranged on a single medn :m, feed mechanism therefor, indicatorscorresponding to the various forms, and means connecting the indicators.operativ'ely with the form feed, whereby the positionin of theindicators denotes the beginning 0 any desired fornrw i j y 2- In anautomatic typewriter actuator having writing-forms separately disposedon a single medium, feed mechanism for said medium, indicatorscoinciding with the vas rious forms, a carrier therefor, and mechanismconnecting the feed and carrier, whereby any indicator is moved to apredetermined position, and the'beginning of a form is denoted. M p

3. In' an automatic typewriter actuator having a single controlin mediumwith forms separately dispos thereon, feed mechanism thereforcooperating normally with the writing mechanism, an independentform-fced, means for disengaging the 'normal feed, and a movableindicator cooperating with the independent feed to denote thecommencement of any desired form.

' '4. In an automatlc typewriter actuator having a controlling mediumwith 'fprms disposed thereoma normal feed therefor, an auxiliary, fasterfeed, mehhanism to shift from one feed to the other, a lock for thefaster feed, and trip mechauis1n to release the lock and perinit therestoration of the normal feed.

5:1 1 an automatic typewriter-actuator I IO having a controlling mediumwith separate forms thereon, a normal feed therefor, an auxiliary andfaster feed, mechanism to shift the feed from normal to faster, a lookfor the same, trip mechanism to release said lock, and means forautomatically tripping the lock at a predetermined point to release thefaster and restore the normal feed.

6. In an automatic typewriter actuator having separately disposed writinforms on a single medium, a normal feed t erefor, an auxiliary, fasterfeed operating backward and forward, automatic mechanism adapted to soactuate the feed, a lock to hold the feed in actuating position, and atrip for the lock releasable at a 'predetermined point by said actuatingmechanism.

7. In an automatic typewriter actuator having multiple writing forms ona single medium, a normal feed for said medium, a faster, backward orforward feed, mechanism to actuate the same automatically, a.

lock therefor, a locktrip, a movable indicator connecting with theactuating mechanism to release the trip, and means for setting theindicator to release the trip at a predetermined point.

8. In an automatic typewriter actuator having writing forms on a singlemedium, a normal feed t erefor, an auxiliary feed operable backward orforward, mechanism adapted to actuate the same automatically, means forengaging either backward or forward feed at will and disengaging thenormal feed, and means for arresting the auxiliary feed at any desiredpoint and restoring the normal feed.

9. In an automatic typewriter actuator having a controlling writing-formmedium, a normal feed therefor, a backward or forward auxiliary feedtherefor, automatic the trip mechanism, and a moverefor, an auxiliaryfeed and mechtuating mechanism and indicators thereon, 5

said indicators being shiftable in and out of the path of the tripmechanism.

11. In an automatic typewriter actuator having a writing-form medium,normal and auxiliary feeds therefor, means for actuating 5 the auxiliaryfeed backward or forward, means. for shifting from one feed to theother,-a clutch for the feed actuating mechanism, and a connectionbetween the clutch and the feed shift.

12. In an automati typewriter actuator having a writing-form medium, anormal feed therefor, an auxiliary feed and mechanism to operate thesame backward or forward, a clutch therefor, means for shifting from onefeed to the other, a connection of the clutch therewith, and aconnection of the clutch with the main actuator mechanism, whereby theclutch is manually engaged and automatically disengaged.

In testimony whereof we afiix our signa turesin presence of twowitnesses.

' ERNEST S. JOHNSON. JOSEPH L. RHEA. Witnesses:

H. R. ASH, J. C. PRYER, Jr.

